My Minor Endor-Retreat Retcon

Now, let me start off by saying that this is quite an insignifigant little thing, surely no McEwok, and I doubt anyone will really care. BUT - it's my first retcon, I'm proud of it, and I felt like sharing it.

Now, Heir to the Empire establishes that Gilad Pellaeon ordered the Imperial retreat from Endor, even though the Imperial fleet greatly outnumbered the Rebels. This is consistent with similar retreats he issued at Bilbringi and Yavin IV. But there are several major questions:

1. Why would Pellaeon give the retreat when we know there were four Grand Admirals who also were at the battle?
2. Why would other ship captains follow the orders of a captain?
3. Why, in The Truce at Bakura, did Governor Nereus say that 'Admiral Prittick' was in command of the Endor fleet as it regrouped at Annaj, when Heir to the Empire says that Pellaeon led the remaining Endor forces until Thrawn showed up?

My idea is simple: Admiral Prittick's ship was the Chimaera, and he is the commander that died at Endor, forcing Pellaeon to take over.

We know that there were a plethora of Imperials the outranked admiral at Endor. Palpatine, Vader, Moff Jerjerrod, Grand Admiral Declann, and the three Imperial Advisors - all of whom outranked an admiral - died onboard the Death Star. Grand Admirals Teshik, Takel, and Makati survived the Death Star's destruction, but we know that they immediately fled the battle with none attemtpign to take command.

Below those people, we know of noly two admirals, Piett and the aforementioned Prittick. Piett was undoubtedly the senior (by virture of serving on Executor if nothing else), but he died even before all the others. Thus, as far as we know, by the time the Death Star was destroyed, Admiral Prittick was the highest ranking Imperial at Endor.

The only problem being, of course, that he was dead. But no one outside of the Chimaera's bridge crew necessarily knew that. In fact, maybe they even didn't - we don't know the details, and possibly Pellaeon was the only one to know that the CO was dead. He goes up to the bridge, looks over the status of the battle, and given his penchant for fleeing with as much of his fleet intact as possible rather than risking it all in a single gamble, tells the crew that 'the Admiral' orders the Fleet to retreat to Annaj.

Likewise, once the fleet regroups at Annaj, Pellaeon sends out the notice to the rest of the Empire. However, the message only says that it was sent by the Chimaera, which is listed (either in the message data or in local Imperial databases) as under the command of Admiral Prittick. Thus why Gov. Nereus (and the rest of the Empire) recieved the news of the battle from Prittick, when it says everywhere else that it was Pellaeon in charge.

Additionally, this theory would also work to support that the Captain Pellaeon seen in the Star Wars Republic comics was the same as our Pellaeon, even when it's said that Pellaeon became captain after Endor. While he already held the rank of captain, he didn't assume the position of captain until after the previous CO (Prittick) was killed.

As to why and how the remainder of the fleet followed him even after discovering that Prittick was dead, you've got me. Maybe Pellaeon turned out to be the seniormost captain among the surviving ships by a great coincidence; maybe they thought he was doing well so far, so they might as well keep following him; more likely there was a steady trickle of ships leaving the former Endor fleet for other warlords.

So, from anyone who'se more knowledgeable in the EU minutiae than me, any reason this wouldn't work?

 

My guess is that the Grand Admiral was captured early on then. Another Admiral also stayed.

However, Pellaeon's described confusion may have essentially made an embarrassment.

 

No Grand Admirals were captured at Endor.

Do you know who the other admiral was?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osvald_Teshik

With three other Grand Admirals, Teshik was present aboard the second Death Star; he attempted to escape, but was pinned beneath a fallen column. One contruction worker, out of the myriads of Imperials fleeing, stopped and freed him. The worker's generosity and kindness worked a transformation within Teshik; the years of abuse and disdain fell away and he regained his compassion. He escaped to his personal Star Destroyer Eleemosynary (class unknown), took command, and prosecuted the fight against the Rebel fleet. Even when a retreat was ordered (illegally), Teshik refused to surrender. It took three hours before Teshik's flagship was finally disabled by an ion cannon bolt. Teshik would be captured alive, and put on trial ('for inhuman atrocities committed against the citizens of the galaxy'), convicted, and sentenced to execution. The irony of this did not escape Teshik as his last words before his death was mechanical laughter.

 

It sounds to me like Teshik got on his ISD when everyone else had left the party.

There was also Admiral Harrsk and Trigit (?)

 

IIRC Pellaeon was not Captain as of the Battle of Endor. He was the XO but the captain of the Chimaera was killed in the battle forcing Pellaeon to assume the role without the rank. You could just say that the Admiral was with the Captain in the same place and got killed together.

 

Actually HttE itself nowhere says, that it was Pellaeon, who ordered the retreat.

It only says, that during the confusion after the loss of the Executor and the DeathStar Pellaeon tried to keep the lines together after the Captain of Chimera was killed "until the order to retreat came". Nothing of this indicates, that it was Pellaeon, who gave the order.

This brainbug of a commander or a staff-captain at best ordering the retreat at Endor appears firts in the HttE-sourcebook, IIRC.

 

Who says Pelly knew about the 4 Jellos at Endor, and secondly, what does that have to do with his retreat directive?

 

Or maybe.....MR. BODY KILLED THE COOK!

 

When your flagship has been destroyed, the big bad Death Satr blew up, those same two mon cals keep coming back no matter how many times they're blown up, and you here someone (you don't know who, its just a voice) telling you to leave, I thinnk you would be qutie wiling to leave.

 

Actually HttE itself nowhere says, that it was Pellaeon, who ordered the retreat.

It was Darksaber that did though

 

And the TTS agrees.

 

If that's true, where did the rank come from? I'm pretty sure it's been established that until Thrawn showed up, Pellaeon operated independent of any higher-ranking officers who would have had the authority to promote him. And Pellaeon doesn't seem to eb the type to promote himself - and if he did, why not declare himself an admiral?

 

Advisors included Sim Aloo and Janus Greetus (sp?) according to the CCG

 

The third Advisor onboard the DSII was Kren Blista-Vanee.